To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion.
Posts tagged Faith
Observations on Romans 7:13-25
0Wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death? – Romans 7:24, ESV
Since the beginning of the year the Lord has really put Romans 7 on my heart in such a way that in everyday life I find myself thinking on this passage and it’s implications. I wanted to share a few observations the Spirit has revealed regarding this text that they may help you.
The Direction of the Sins of Christians is Christ
Set aside those who would call themselves Christians and let us focus on those who are truly saved. Those who are truly saved still sin. This sin is because of our flesh. The flesh is that part of us which is still human. This is reflected in Romans 7 as Paul contends that the law is holy, but finds us sinful. God is holy, his law is just, and it finds us in guilt. What can a Christian hope to do with the guilt that God has heaped upon us by our own sin? We have to conclude that we are wretched and unsalvageable. Then comes Christ and the full glory of God was crucified on the cross and then rose on the third day so that we might believe. Therefore the sin of the Christian calls not to their guilt, for the guilt of the Christian was put on the lamb as he was slaughtered, and instead points to Christ. The holiness of the law is reflected in God’s wrath on the son because of the sin of the believer. (more…)
The Roman Centurion: An Admirable Faith
0When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:9, ESV)
There are several stories in the bible that are just glossed over. For instance, Hosea married a prostitute, yet when reviewing most Sunday School class curriculum, one rarely finds mention of this story- even though it takes up a whole book of the bible. The story of the Roman Centurion is one such story. A centurion was a commander in the roman army, much like a sergeant or corporal in today’s armies. The Centurion was a Roman, detested by Jews. So why is this man’s faith admirable? Well to understand the risk that the Centurion took, we must understand where he was coming from.
Social/Cultural Taboo
“When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.” (Luke 7:3)
While it’s now considered insensitive to think of a race as inferior, it wasn’t so Jesus’ day. The Romans were superior. They had greater armies, greater technology, and greater populations and lands. They acted as though they were the superiors: They lived in the finest houses, took the best looking Jews as slaves, and were able to abuse Jews as they saw fit.
As the Jews were not Roman citizens, they didn’t have access to the civil laws that were customarily given to Roman citizens.
Being Roman meant you had a lot of Roman pride. You were a citizen of the most powerful nation on the earth, and it was expected that you would be very proud of your heritage. Roman culture was to be held high above the customs of the lands that Rome conquered. A decent Roman would have nothing to do with the pathetic cultures that surrounded him or her.
Roman soldiers were a whole new class of ugly. Watching Easter Passion Productions gives you a rather tame view of these men. Many Roman soldiers were from the Italian Peninsula, and hated leaving the comforts of their home. Some were mercenaries, hired to keep the peace. Regardless of that, these men were nasty. They would rape the Jewish women. They killed, and no one gave it a second thought. They would steal, sometimes out of need, and other times out of desire. They drank, and drank excessively. They were pigs.
A Good Man
“And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” (Luke 7:4-5)
This man was good. He was not like the soldiers around him. We can assume that this man was more like the idealistic representations of Roman soldiers that we’ve seen in the movies: Probably a large man, with a lot of difficult decisions to make, and yet he has built a synagogue for the Jews. We can tell that he is a peace loving man. We can tell that he is a compassionate man, because he is asking Jesus to heal his servant.
Not Even In Israel
“I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:9)
The thing to learn from the Roman Centurion is that there is no such thing as an untouchable. It was culturally unthinkable for a Centurion to seek out a Jewish carpenter and ask Him to heal his servant. He was willing to risk his reputation because he had faith in Jesus. How much are we willing to risk to come to Jesus and ask for His help? Is it our reputations? Our lattes? Our iPods?
This Roman centurion was willing to give it all- but not for himself.
For a friend.
And that’s what made him more faithful than anyone in Israel.
Refusal to Believe is Sin
0Oftentimes when we don’t want to look so bad we will say, “At least I don’t do (fill in the blank).” If I sometimes get mad at my parents I could say, “well at least I don’t do crystal meth.” I would be right in saying that I don’t do crystal meth, but of course it would be false justification. The good things that I do are not a reflection of how good I am, but how good Christ is. That realization hit me again as I was reading through Deuteronomy 1. The book of Deuteronomy is the last of the Pentateuch, the books of the bible that were penned by Moses. Deuteronomy summarizes what has been going on with the people of Israel and where they are heading. It includes a final speech of a dying leader, Moses, and a lot of laws, as well as a history of what the people of Israel had been going through up until that point.
The recap of the history of Israel at the point of when Moses penned Deuteronomy was centered around a singular event. That event was the proceedings after a report from twelve spies Moses had sent into the land that the Lord promised to give to Israel. Ten of the spies advised the people not to go into the land, and two of them said they should go in and possess the Lord had given to them. The people were so scared they refused to go into the land that the Lord had given them. The Lord was so angry that he led the people of Israel to wander in the desert until all of that generation had died. (more…)
Legal Proof vs. Scientific Proof
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Josh McDowell is widely regarded at one of the leading influential writers on evangelism and apologetics from the 20th century. This excerpt is from More Than A Carpenter, a book that McDowell wrote in 1973.
“Now if scientific method was the only method of proving something, you couldn’t prove that you went to your first hour class this morning or that you had lunch today. There’s no way you can repeat those events in a controlled situation.
Now here’s what is called the legal-historical proof, which is based on showing that something is fact beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, a verdict is reached on the basis of the weight of the evidence. That is, there’s no reasonable basis for doubting the decision. It depends upon three types of testimony: oral testimony, written testimony, and exhibits (such as a gun, bullet, notebook.) Using the legal method of determining what happened, you could pretty well prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were in class this morning: your friends saw you, you have your notes, the professor remembers you. (more…)
The Idol of Emotionalism
0By Kelsey Kroon
A part of our faith is emotions. It is necessary. Without emotions we wouldn’t have the remorse of sin, joy with blessings, the excitement from a true worship experience. Without the emotional side to the faith it’s a dull, meaningless waste of time.
However, we’re addicted to emotions, are we not? In everything we do we expect to have a huge emotional outcome. We’re addicted to the drama that is affiliated with many things. When we fall in love we expect there to be an angelic choir singing in the background. When we find Jesus we expect to have the incredible, tear filled, “had God’s hand not found me I would have been dead” experience. Without the emotional come-to-Jesus we sometimes think that it doesn’t count, that we have to go through hell in order for it to really work. This addiction to the emotions becomes an idol, in a sense. Sometimes we come to Christ so that we can have that emotional high, not because of the Grace that is Jesus. We worship the emotion instead of the Creator.
God’s big enough to move through the small, personal, one-on-one encounters. He doesn’t HAVE to have the big booming stories.
I’ve heard a lot of people say, “But I grew up going to church. I never had a time where I hated God and experimented with darkness.” GOOD FOR YOU! I’m so happy you didn’t have to go through hell to get to God! In my eyes, a person who hasn’t had to go through learning the hard way is one of the strongest people ever. God made them strong from the get go. Some of us God has to form and train to be that strong.
Don’t think for one second that because your story didn’t have a sad beginning it doesn’t count as a testimony!
Our minds have been trained to see the drama in everything. Girl, boy, doesn’t matter. We all expect a boom when we walk in a room.
To some, coming to Christ is as simple and natural as breathing. To others it takes a path through the darkest part to find Him.
Easter and Faith
0Three days after Jesus was placed in the tomb, the stone rolled away, and His body was gone. An angel greeted the women who had come to pour spices and oils on His body. He told them to go tell the disciples that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. An instant conversion happened. The women who saw the angel suddenly believed in the resurrection of the actual Lord and savior Jesus Christ. For most of His earthly ministry people were wowed by his miracles and power, but they never really got it. They were expecting a glorious revolution where He would lead an army to save Israel from the oppressive Romans.
After Jesus was crucified the disciples scattered, fearing for their lives. They had forgotten everything that Jesus had said about resurrection three days later. Their own desires had caused them to be deaf toward the desires of God. They desired a glorious Israeli empire that would come to pass in 33 A.D. They didn’t want to hear that Jesus would die and be raised.
When Jesus rose from the dead, the lack of belief in His power over death and the future was changed. The disciples were instantly converted into real believers in the total power of God. They saw the big picture. They saw why things that had happened, happened. They saw what was coming. They knew that the kingdom had not yet come, but was coming.
I like to think that I have the right idea most of the time. I like to think that I know what’s going on. I like to think that I’m a person with good morality, and decent actions to reflect that morality. I’m a lot like the disciples in that regard. We both did the right things for the right reasons and we expected results. Then the unexpected happens, a test of the faith. Everything that we believe in gets nailed to a cross, then buried.
The disciples scattered, and I could spend hours telling you how I have handled tests of the faith quite poorly. When we think we’re doing the right thing, we expect things to go our way. When they don’t, we assume we did all the right things in vain. We forget what God has said, that He would die and resurrect, that life would be hard but things would get better. Our faith is restored when Jesus moves in our lives. He changes our situations for the better. Despite our lack of faith, He moves in and around us to show His love and power.
Easter is a great reminder of the power of God over death. It’s an excellent time to contemplate grace and mercy. It’s a great time to go to church for the first time, or the first time in a long time. Easter is also a great time to repent of a lack of faith. Don’t end up like the disciples, weighed down by a loss of faith. Rise up and be of good cheer.
The grave couldn’t hold Him and He is with you right now.
Have a great Easter.
Love,
Jack
Paul
03 years ago
by Jack
Paul
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (1 Timothy 4:7, NIV)
Paul had an amazing life. He went all over most of the Roman empire, preaching and ministering to people. He wrote a large part of the new testament and is credited with bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul actually started his religious career a Pharisee, who went from town to town in ancient Israel stirring up hate against the Christians in that town. As a matter of fact the bible tells the story of Stephen, a young man who was killed for his faith. The bible says that a man named Saul held the coats of the men so they would not get in the way as they stoned Stephen. Then that man Saul went on his way to Damascus, where Jesus met him on the road and struck him blind. He continued along his way to Damascus and prayed and fasted for three days until Jesus sent a man named Ananias to pray for him and remove the scales from his eyes. From that point on Paul traveled around the world preaching Jesus.
Get Connected: Why Spiritual Community Is So Important To The New Christian
03 years ago
by Jack
When we first moved into my old house the ground was hard, and the land was scratched. The land that my dad wanted to use for farming had been used as a corral for horses for many years. The dark was a dark, rather thin, almost sandy consistency. The first year that my dad planted crops they did not grow very large, and did not taste very good. The next year one of our friends was building a house, and gave us all the dirt from the excavation. This dirt was spongy and most, perfect for planting in. It took some years to work the new good dirt into the old dirt, but after a few years the crops were plentiful and tasted very good. The different kinds of soil made all the different in the world.
Jesus often related faith to a seed. Faith starts out small. If it has the right conditions and the right watering it will grow. One of the most important factors in plant growth is the place where the seed is planted. The seed, and eventually the plant, derives most of its nutrition from the soil. Spiritual growth happens in a similar way. If you are a new Christian you should look to plant yourself in good soil. Your spiritual nutrition, and invariably how good of fruit you produce, is linked to where you connect yourself. Over the next few days we will investigate what spiritual community looks like, and how it can edify you and reflect the good work that God is doing in your life.
The Roman Centurion: An Admirable Faith
23 years ago
by Jack
“
When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:9, ESV)
There are several stories in the bible that are just glossed over. For instance, Hosea married a prostitute, yet when reviewing most Sunday School class curriculum, one rarely finds mention of this story- even though it takes up a whole book of the bible. The story of the Roman Centurion is one such story. A centurion was a commander in the roman army, much like a sergeant or corporal in today’s armies. The Centurion was a Roman, detested by Jews. So why is this man’s faith admirable? Well to understand the risk that the Centurion took, we must understand where he was coming from. (more…)